Through the Looking Glass
by A Amelia Black
Summary: Harleen Quinzel was just your normal, average Gotham University student, with the hidden potential to become one of Gotham's most well-known villians - Harley Quinn. Here is her story, starting from when she was still a student at Gotham University.
1. Just Another Day

****

**Disclaimer:** Everything is property of DC Comics - all hail XD

**Author Notes:**

Hello everyone! This is my very first Batman fanfiction, so please go easy on me. I'm testing out a few different concepts, and pulling things from mulitple storylines in order to give you quite the read!

There are so many stories out there that chronicle Harley Quinn's beginnings, but I have yet to find one that actually starts at her time during Gotham University.

This is that story. It will show you just how and why she was able to become Harley Quinn, why she was so suseptible to the Joker, and hopefully give you more insight into her character!

PS - this chapter was recently revised, thanks to many comments, suggestions etc! I think it works better now :)

Your comments, reviews, and suggestions are greatly appreciated and very welcomed!

--

Chapter One – Just Another Day

"Harley!"

It was a beautiful day. The sun was warm as it beat down upon the Gotham University campus, a slight breeze rustled the brilliantly colored leaves of the trees, and an earthy scent filled the air. It was fall and with that season, all the trees had exploded in a wide, rich array of reds, golds, and greens. It was breathtaking, and Harleen Quinzel had taken a moment out of her day to simply enjoy it. After a long morning of sitting in stuffy classrooms, listening to professors drone on and on about the complexity of the mind, Harleen just needed a few minutes to herself.

She was sitting on a bench along one of the many cobblestone pathways that wound their way through the large university, her black messenger bag sitting next to her. Her gaze wandered as she took in her surroundings. The University of Gotham was old, the buildings built from dark, red bricks, with smaller towers rising in some of the corners. It looked as though it could have once been a castle. Where Harleen sat, she could see the entire main courtyard, the stone buildings rising up on all four corners, the only breaks were large stone archways that led to other parts of the campus. Multiple trees offered ample shade, and Harleen had chosen a bench under one of the largest of them, enjoying the warmth but not wanting to bake in the sun.

"Harley!" came the voice again, this time a little more insistent, and Harleen finally snapped out of her thoughts.

Harleen blinked and looked around, only to see her best friend, Melissa, standing beside her.

"Dreaming again?" laughed Melissa with a grin on her face.

Harleen chuckled, sweeping a strand of her long, blonde hair from her face. "For once, not thinking at all!"

"I know what you mean," said Melissa as she flopped down on the bench next to Harleen. "I thought I was going to fall asleep in Professor Bennett's class. I know English is boring and it's not exactly like we all _want_ to read all those dusty books, but he could at least _try_ to make it entertaining. Even Professor Gold's math class is better than that! And I hate math."

At the look on Melissa's face, Harleen laughed. "I know!"

"You know what could've been interesting," said Melissa suddenly, grinning conspiratorially.

"What?" asked Harleen, arching an eyebrow.

"Taking one of Professor Crane's classes."

Harleen stared at her friend for a good few minutes, trying to figure out what her friend was thinking. "You do realize he shot off a gun in the middle of class, don't you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Sure, but at least it was interesting! Now he's at Arkham, looney working with the loonies, ironic!"

Harleen couldn't help but laugh lightly. "You sure have a strange sense of humor, Melissa."

"Don't we all?"

"Just you," teased Harleen, grateful to get back to a lighter, teasing conversation. She had, of course, heard all the stories about Professor Crane and what he had done in his classes, as well as the rumors of the experiments that he conducted on his patients at Arkham Asylum. He had specialized in the psychology of fear, and while his theories had been interesting, he had gone from simply theorems to actually performing fear-induced experiments. It had made Harleen think, about what exactly could have caused that sudden transformation of one of Gotham's most respected, brilliant psychologists. Extreme personalities had always interested Harleen, and it was what she was basing her senior thesis on. Her advisor, Professor Walden, had cautioned her about choosing such a risky and touchy subject, hinting that other professors, especially those on the board, would not view it like he did, and she could quite possibly make a fool of herself. This had caused Harleen to snap, inwardly vowing that she would show all of them that she knew what she was talking about, and she could very well use what happened to Professor Crane as an example.

"Harleen?" asked Melissa quietly, staring at her friend. Harleen's features had twisted into a mask of anger, as if she were quietly simmering beneath the surface.

At the sound of Melissa's concerned voice, Harleen blinked, snapping out of her dark thoughts, and beamed at her friend. "Oh, don't worry! I was just thinking about my thesis, that's all. So much to do, not enough time!"

"Oh… okay." Melissa still looked unsure, but she offered her friend a smile. "By the way, there's a party tonight over at SigNu, up for it?"

Harleen took a moment on that one, thinking about her massive exam in one of her hardest psychology classes the next morning. Of course Gotham University professors wouldn't care that it was only a few weeks into the semester, or that the weather was so nice that no one would be caught dead studying inside. Besides, it was a proven fact that no matter how hard she studied, she always did poorly, and so she might as well have some fun this time. She had a few months to make it up. It only took another moment for Harleen to shrug it off – she would study in the morning – and say with a grin, "I'm in!"

"Awesome! I'll swing by around 10 and we'll head out!"

"Sounds good."

"I've got to run to my next class, but I'll see you then!" said Melissa as she stood, giving Harleen a wave before running off.

Harleen smiled and stood, shouldering her messenger bag. _Time for food,_ she thought to herself and headed towards the Student Center.

--

The day seemed to fly by, and soon Harleen was headed back to her dorm room from her last class. However, her earlier cheerful mood had quickly soured after receiving her test back in her Science of Illusion class.

_I studied for _hours! she thought angrily as she walked along the sidewalk, her furious gaze causing people to sidestep around her. _Not thorough enough, he said, not well-balanced enough essays. Your theories on the illusions of memory and judgment are too out-there, not scientific enough, needs more development, he said…. You better watch it, buster,_ she added on a darker tone. Then her eyes widened slightly and she shook off her thoughts, slightly disturbed at how angry she was. It had happened before, and it would happen again. All of the professors, it seemed, were against her, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't make the marks.

_I've only got a year left…I came here on a gymnastics scholarship and I do love gymnastics. It's a good way to work off stress, and competition is where I thrive. But I'll never do anything more than college-level competition…the Olympics are out. That's one dream down the drain. I managed to get into the Psychology Department, something extremely difficult to do, but my high GPA helped a lot. I worked overtime during high school so that I could get into the school I wanted. Like that helped. It's like… every year my grades get worse, and I'm sick of studying all the time! I just want to have fun, is that so horrible?_

Harleen sighed, running a hand through her hair. Her gaze drifted to the bleached strands that ran through her fingers. _Damaged…probably should get some more conditioning treatments,_ she mused. Releasing the strands, Harleen walked to the bus stop by the Student Center to take the bus to her dorm. As she stood there, waiting, a flyer hanging on one of the glass walls of the bus stop caught her attention.

_**ATTENTION PSYCHOLOGY MAJORS**_

_**Want the opportunity of a lifetime?**_

_**Looking for work after college?**_

_**Want a challenge?**_

_**Look no further!**_

_**Apply for an internship at the renowned Arkham Asylum**_

_**See information and guidelines below.**_

_Arkham? _thought Harleen, arching an eyebrow. _I've heard of that place, my Criminal Psychology prof mentions it a lot in class. It's where all the criminal psychopaths are put, and the most dangerous criminals are held. I've heard of those lower floors, the high security, and all the rumors of how doctors never last very long in Arkham. Probably why they're doing an internship. I wonder how many people will actually apply?_

"You want to work with the crazies?" asked a voice next to her and Harleen looked up to see a good-looking guy with short black hair standing beside her, wearing a black SigNu shirt.

Harleen chuckled. "What, you don't think I would last?"

"Cute chick like you? They'd probably eat you alive," smirked the guy.

"Hey, you never know, I might pack more of a punch than you think," teased Harleen, glancing back at the flyer. _Arkham Asylum…if I could score an internship there, that would be amazing. I've heard all the rumors about it but it's not something that scares me. More like… entices me, something along those lines. I don't know, maybe it's the idea of working so close with such dangerous people that gives me that extra thrill. Maybe I'm just weird. _She chuckled at the thought andthen she sighed. _But I'd have to graduate top of my class if I want to even have a _shot_ at getting that internship. I'm sure it's highly competitive._

The sound of the bus pulling up snapped Harleen out of her thoughts and she realized the guy had left. She had probably looked like an idiot, staring off into space as she dreamed of stardom. _Oh well, not the first time._ She began walking towards the bus, and then paused, glancing at the flyer. She hesitated only momentarily before snatching the flyer and climbing onto the bus.

--

That evening, Harleen was dressed and ready to go to the SigNu party, awaiting Melissa's arrival, when a news story on the TV caught her attention. She had turned it on as background noise while she was getting ready and cooking dinner, but now she found herself sitting down on the edge of her chair, her gaze focused on the television screen.

Mike Engel, one of the Gotham Cable News main reporters, stood in front of what looked to be a blown-out bank. The entire area was roped off by police tape, and the GCPD was walking around in the background, searching through the rubble. _Probably the MCU,_ thought Harleen absentmindedly. _They're usually first to the scene_.

" – and money. Will there ever be an end to the Joker's reign of terror?" Mike motioned back towards the bank. "Can Gotham really count on Batman to stop every crime? We see murder after murder, and a path of total destruction that lies in the Joker's wake. It seems Batman has met his match. Arkham Asylum will need to step up their security procedures, or we could very well see more of these criminal masterminds loose on our city. Now – "

Mike continued to talk, but Harleen's mind was spinning in other directions. _The Joker…it's minds like these that lie within Arkham's walls. Though if Arkham's security is weak, like Mike was saying, is it really safe? Then again, what's a little danger every now and then, especially if it helps me get to the top. The end justifies the means, after all._

Photos on the television drew Harleen's attention back to the TV, where they were showing pictures of the Joker and some of his victims. Harleen couldn't help but stare at the image before her. It was almost surreal, with his bone-white features, dark-green hair, and vivid red smile split across his face in a wide grin. _I wonder what secrets lay hidden within someone like that… I wonder what drives them to do what they do. Graduation can't come quick enough, and if I can secure that internship at Arkham, just think of what I could learn! If I have that on my resume, I bet I could get a job at a top psychiatric hospital, or even move from there to private sessions…I've heard those make you quite a bit of money!_

A knock at the door startled Harleen, causing her to jump and her heart begin to race. She took a deep breath and flicked off the TV before standing and walking to the door. She opened it, revealing Melissa.

"Hey, ready to go?" asked Melissa said, grinning.

"You bet!" Harleen grabbed her purse and followed Melissa out of the room.

--

The evening went by in a blur, and at one point, Harleen lost track of Melissa. Now she was making her way through the crowded rooms and hallways of the SigNu house, trying to spot Melissa's noticeable red head. However, Harleen was petite and not very tall, and while that was perfect for gymnastics, it didn't work out in her favour when she was trying to find someone in a crowded area.

"Have you seen Melissa?" she asked one of the SigNu brothers, Frankie…she believed, someone that Melissa knew.

Frankie shook his head. "Not for awhile!" he said, having to almost shout to be heard above the loud music and voices. He offered her a cup of something, grinning. "Here! Why don't you join us over there!" He gestured towards the area of the room where they were playing Beer Pong.

"Maybe later!" she replied, and then slid back into the thong of people, working her way towards the stairs. The stairs were a little less crowded, so she soon made her way to the second floor. "Melissa?" she called again, a note of worry starting to creep into her voice. _Where is she? Why hasn't anyone seen her?_

"Hey, Harlequin, where you going!" came a voice from behind her, and Harleen turned to see Matt, a SigNu she had previously dated, standing in the hallway, grinning at her. He had a beer in his hand and took a swig.

"Matt," she said, exasperation evident in her voice. _He's not that bad when he's not drunk…but give him a few beers, and he just won't _stop_ with that name!_ "I told you not to call me that."

"Oh come on, honey, it's not that bad a name!" Matt took a few wobbly steps towards her, spilling some of his beer in the process. "Oops," he said, and then laughed.

Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get anywhere with him, not in his state, she just shook her head and started walking away. She had only gone a few steps before she ran into someone walking the other way.

"Sorry!" she quickly apologized and then realized it was Melissa. "Melissa! Where have you been?"

"Harley!" said Melissa in surprise, her eyes widening. "Sorry I disappeared like that, Eric found me again," she added in a quieter tone. "Ever since we broke up, he just won't leave me alone."

"How'd he get in here anyways? He's not SigNu."

"Who knows, but I think I managed to avoid him. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Don't worry about it," said Harleen with a smile. She glanced over her shoulder, where Matt was now attempting to hit on a short, petite, dark-haired girl. "Looks like we've both managed to run into our other problems."

"I hear you. Wanna head out?"

"Sure."

Harleen and Melissa began walking to the stairs, and they had almost reached them, when shrill screams suddenly erupted throughout the house. They began to escalate, as more and more people joined in from downstairs. Harleen and Melissa both froze, hearts hammering in their chests, and stared at each other, wide-eyed. _What's going on?_ thought Harleen, fear gripping her. She swallowed, and managed to move to the staircase railing in order to see what was going on. People were shoving and pushing as they tried to run from the back of the house towards the front, screams of pain, fear, and the sounds of trampling feet filled the room.

Then Harleen saw it – a strange mist snaking its way towards the front of the house. People started dropping to the floor, frantically scratching at invisible things, screaming for something to get off them. Others were curled up in balls in corners, and others were still trying to find their way out.

"Whatever that is, it's not good! Let's go!" Harleen grabbed Melissa's arm and pulled her away from the stairs – they wouldn't be able to get out that way, and the only other way was a back stair that no one really used.

"What's going on?" asked Melissa as they ran down the hall, screams still filling the air as more and more people succumbed to the strange mist. "This is like one of those freaky movies, I don't like it!"

"It'll be alright Mel, we just need to get out and get the police, or something," said Harleen, trying to sound more confident than she felt. As they passed two windows, a scene outside caused them to skid to a halt, staring open-mouthed. From where they stood, they could see the south side of the university, including the math and science buildings…which were now ablaze, bright orange and red flames licking the night sky. The sounds of sirens could be heard through the open window.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Melissa, horrified. "What the hell is going on?"

"Come on, Melissa!" cried Harleen, tugging at Melissa's arm. "We need to get out of here!" Finally, Melissa allowed Harleen to tug her away from the fiery scene.

They found the back stair and made their way quickly down to the first floor into an unused kitchen. They ran through a doorway, down a short hall, heading for the door, when something suddenly stepped in front of them. The man was tall, gangly, and dressed in a long trenchcoat. A ragged hat covered his head, and a tattered, burnoose mask covering his face, and a noose around his neck.

Both girls screamed, staggering back as the man stepped towards them. Melissa clung to Harleen, whimpering, and Harleen steeled herself against whatever this guy was. _Dressing like a scarecrow, it isn't even Halloween! _Harleen tried to keep her thoughts light, in an effort to help keep Melissa from screaming again.

"Well hello!" the man said, his voice thin and reedy, sounding unnatural coming from the terrifying visage he portrayed. "Revenge is sweet, and fear is sweeter! It's amazing what alcohol and a little bit of my newest fear toxin can do! I have a special concoction that I haven't had a chance to try yet, but it looks like my test subjects just walked in the door! You screamed, but what are you _afraid _of, hmm?"

_Who the hell IS this guy?_ thought Harleen, swallowing as she and Melissa continued to back up. Harleen's back hit something hard and she realized that they had reached the wall. Harleen's eyes darted back and forth along the wall, trying to see if there was anything she could use against this lunatic.

"Shall we test it?! You saw my magnificent blaze outside, isn't it wonderful? The whole university, up in a big fiery explosion, that'll teach them!" the scarecrow continued to rant, waving his hands. "Now now … to you…a face full of this toxin should do it! I can't wait to see how you react!"

_This guy is the one who set the university on fire? Who IS he?!_

Harleen's eyes landed on a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall, only a few feet away from her. _There we go!_ "Mel, don't move," she whispered, keeping her eyes on the Scarecrow. Then she lunged for the fire extinguisher.

"Take a face full of this!" she yelled, and shot off the fire extinguisher at the Scarecrow. As he was yelling and coughing, Harleen dropped the fire extinguisher and grabbed Melissa's hand. "Come on!" She drug Melissa past the Scarecrow and out the back door into the blissfully cool night air.

--

**Thank you for reading! Please review :)**


	2. The Aftermath

**Disclaimer: All property of the almighty DC XD XD XD**

**Author Notes: Thanks everyone for all your feedback! I'm really glad you're liking this so far :)**

**This chapter has a bit more meat to it, not a TON of action, but great deal more character development. And if you're familiar at all with this universe, there'll be a certain someone appearing in this chapter whom we all know ;)**

**Without further ado, I give you chpt 2 (oh wow that rhymed...LOL)**

**Enjoy! Your comments, feedback, suggestions are greatly appreciated and very welcomed, thank you!**

--

**Chapter Two – The Aftermath**

Classes were cancelled for the next week as the damage to Gotham University was assessed. It seemed that Gotham had a new madman on the loose, by the name of the Scarecrow. The Scarecrow used a type of fear toxin that caused people to hallucinate their worst fears, literally frightening them to death. The fires that the Scarecrow had set were eventually put out, thanks to the quick response of the Gotham City Fire Department, but the damage had been extensive and many of the buildings would now be uninhabitable.

News reports of the Batman coming to the aid of Gotham, battling against the Scarecrow, supposedly even getting shot by the toxin. Miraculously, Batman had still managed to come out on top, but the Scarecrow had escaped, and now reports were popping up from around Gotham of Scarecrow sightings. If things could be any worse, the Joker was still at large, having yet to be detained, and while he was creating havoc far away from Gotham University, many of the students had started to become more fearful of leaving the area.

Even a week later, many of the classes that had been held in the now-damaged buildings were held in various other areas of campus, some cancelled all-together. However, Harleen's Cognitive Psychology class had not been cancelled, much to her dismay, and to make it worse, they still had a test the next day! Better still, the professor wasn't even going to do a review, but cover more material for the text instead.

_This would've been an interesting class, learning how humans problem-solve and the way they think. Perception is key to many decisions, and seeing how humans interact and their reasoning behind what they do is fascinating. If only Professor Riener knew how to do _some_ sort of inflection in his voice…the monotone is really starting to grate on my nerves and he's so _BORING! thought Harleen as she sat in one of the chairs in the giant lecture hall, tapping her pen idly on her notebook, her chin in her other hand. Their class had been moved to the science building due to the psychology building being burned completely down. The Scarecrow, it seemed, had targeted that building first, and Harleen couldn't help but wonder what had motivated him to do so.

Thinking about the Scarecrow was far more interesting, and Harleen let her mind begin to wander. _It really helps when your best friend's dad is on the police force. Melissa's dad was in Commissioner Gordon's office and I guess they were talking about the fire and what the reasoning behind it was, but they didn't have any solid leads. However, they had discovered that the psychology building was the worst hit. Does the Scarecrow have something against the people or the psychology program? Maybe something happened to him in the past, maybe he was wronged somehow, and so he found a way to get revenge. _Harleen blinked and lifted her head, trying to clear her thoughts. _Wait, why am I trying to rationalize this? He's a killer, a psychopath dressed up like a scarecrow, trying to scare people to death. But then again…doesn't every killer need some sort of motive? Something that drives them to do what they do. But that's not necessarily true either, because look at the Joker, he has no motivation whatsoever, except to create havoc in Gotham for fun. But surely, behind these criminal masterminds, there has to be some underlying connection. Maybe – _

"Ms. Quinzel?" a voice called, startling Harleen and causing her to stare blankly at the professor standing at the base of the hall. There were quite a few rows of seats between her and Professor Reiner, but it felt as if she were suddenly the only person in the room. "Your answer?" Only then did Harleen realize that he had been asking her some sort of question. Quickly, she glanced at the blackboard behind Professor Reiner and then to the PowerPoint presentation up on the larger screen. Her heart beat a little faster as she realized she had no idea what the question had been or even where to begin. She could feel everyone's eyes boring into her as they awaited her answer.

_Way to go Harl,_ she thought sarcastically. _It's bad enough I'm already doing poorly in this class. How is it my fault the professor always targets me when I'm not paying attention…seriously. _She opened her mouth to ask what the question was when a voice behind her whispered, "The answer is perception."

"Perception," said Harleen out loud and Professor Reiner nodded.

"Yes, as Ms. Quinzel pointed out, perception is the key to many forms of psychosis. As you can see – " and Professor Reiner continued to ramble on.

"Thank you," whispered Harleen in gratitude, her relief obvious. She glanced over her shoulder at the person who had saved her from the embarrassing situation and realized it was Summer Gleeson, lead writer of Gotham University's Newspaper. They had attended parties together before, and Harleen recalled taking several of the same classes with her, but other than that they had not spoken very much. Summer was known to take the bull-by-the-horns, so to speak, and her ambition was widely known. She had started off in the Psychology Department, but had transferred to Journalism the previous year.

"Eye for an eye," responded Summer with a smirk. "I saved your butt here, now you get me an interview with the gymnastics team and we'll call it even."

"Fair enough." Harleen smiled and then turned back to her notebook, where she continued to doodle for the remainder of the class.

--

After class, Harleen was heading towards the Student Center to meet up with Melissa when Summer caught up to her. "Hey, Harleen, right?" said Summer, walking beside her.

Harleen nodded. "Summer, right?"

"You got it." Summer grinned. "So you'll really get me in for an interview? Coach Bensen has been on a tirade ever since the last exposé exposed his former coach's little tryst with the top gymnast. Lock down mode, I tell you!" she said, throwing her hands up in emphasis. "Won't let anyone get so much as a peep about the team."

The indiscretion was well known to most of Gotham University, and it had been embarrassing for both parties involved, to say the least. Coach Bensen had been an Assistant Coach to the Cheerleading Squad, and had taken the previous coach's place after the incident had been brought to light. He had worked tirelessly over the next year to build the gymnastic team's credibility and reputation back up, and had refused to let any sort of press to interview the team.

"It's been a year," said Harleen as they walked. "If he doesn't start letting people interview him, it's only going to make the team look suspicious, so yeah, I don't see why not. Besides, I'm his favorite," added Harleen with a grin. "If I ask, it's a yes, guaranteed." True, there was a little more to that than Harleen would be willing to go into, especially to a reporter, but suffice it to say, she knew how to get what she wanted, and wasn't afraid to go after it. She loved gymnastics, and she wanted to be the top, so she worked hard, knowing that if she played the game right, she would be number one.

"Oh really?" asked Summer, arching an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"

"No," smirked Harleen.

Summer grinned. "Smart chica." They made their way past an area of campus that was under construction from the previous arson attack by the Scarecrow, and Summer gave Harleen a conspiratorial look. "So, you know how that crazy guy that wore the scarecrow outfit attacked the campus a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, what about it?" asked Harleen, a little bit of nervousness creeping into her stomach as she thought about what had transpired. She and Melissa had seen the Scarecrow first-hand, and she didn't really want to think about it.

"Look at this." Summer rummaged around in her bag and then pulled out a small envelope. She handed it to Harleen, who took the package and opened it, pulling out a photograph. It showed the Scarecrow facing off against Batman by one of the buildings. The clarity wasn't great, but it was easy enough to figure out who was who.

"How'd you get this?" asked Harleen, her eyes widening, coming to a complete halt on the sidewalk.

"I'm just good," grinned Summer as she took back the photo. "This is my key to the top, the key to stardom, the key to being the top news reporter in Gotham, and then onto bigger and better things after that. Metropolis was no where _near_ as interesting as this city is, too much politics in that city. I should know, I was born there – but here, in Gotham, you've got a masked vigilante, trying to save the world, and you've got the most interesting characters trying to stop him. Someone should write a book, ya know? Make some money on it. I know I will."

"So you grew up in Metropolis?" asked Harleen, wanting to get on a different subject. She began walking again, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Summer nodded as she caught up to Harleen. "Yup. Grew up with stories of Superman, Supergirl, Lex Luther, all that jazz. Came here right after high school just when Batman was starting to appear out in the streets of Gotham. Pretty interesting, if you ask me. I mean, you've got Superman, who has all these amazing powers, and is an alien to boot!" Summer's hands flew around in front of her as she emphasized her points. "Then you've got Batman, this normal guy, who can beat criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, no added superpowers! It's a reporter's dream come true – just who is this masked vigilante, taking on Gotham's criminal masterminds."

Harleen was quiet as Summer continued to talk excitedly about what her next plans were, and how she was going to secure her internship at the Gotham Gazette the following semester, and how the next time someone was attacked in Gotham, she'd get right in there and be snapping away, securing footage that no other reporter had yet to acquire.

_She's more talkative than me, if that's possible!_ thought Harleen as Summer continued to talk.

" – and you never know. You think he'll attack the university again?" asked Summer. When Harleen didn't immediately answer, Summer snapped her fingers in front of Harleen's face, causing her to jump. "Earth to Harleen, you in there?"

"What?" She blinked. "Oh, oh well I don't know… maybe, but why would he do it again?"

"To finish the job of course," said Summer, rolling her eyes. "He was obviously after something. You think Batman knows who's under the mask?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Harleen arched an eyebrow in response. "What? How would he know?"

Summer shrugged. "You never know!" She leaned over to Harleen, lowering her voice to a whisper. "But you know what I think – I think the Scarecrow – "

Summer was cut off by a voice yelling "Hey, Harleen! Over here!"

Harleen stopped and turned to see Melissa standing by one of the outdoor picnic tables, waving at her. The GSU Student Center was a large quad, with the back two edges framed by the actual Student Center, within which one could find the food court, bookstore, a small restaurant, and other student services. Along the third side was the library, its twelve stories easily making it the tallest building in the university. At the fourth side there was the main bus stop, where buses continually pulled in and out of, their destinations varying from different campus locations to downtown Gotham City. A stone fountain sat in the center of the bricked quad where many students sat, either reading books, talking with each other, or eating lunch. There were also quite a few picnic tables set up in front of the Student Center, right outside the doors that led to the food court, which was where Melissa now stood.

Harleen made her way over to Melissa, noting that Summer was still walking with her. "I picked you up a ranch wrap," said Melissa, holding out the sandwich to Harleen with a smile.

"Thanks," said Harleen, taking the wrap. Noticing Melissa's curious look, Harleen glanced at Summer and said, "Melissa, this is Summer. She's in my Cognitive Psych class."

"Hey," said Melissa, politely enough, but Harleen could tell there was something hidden in the tone of her voice. _I'll ask her about it later,_ thought Harleen.

"Hey yourself," said Summer, smiling. "Mind if I joined you for lunch?"

Melissa glanced at Harleen, and then shrugged. "Sure."

"I'll be right back. I know there's a burger in there just screamin' my name!" said Summer with a grin and she headed into the food court.

Harleen and Melissa sat down at the table and began to un-wrap their food. "Do you know Summer?" asked Harleen, taking a bite of her wrap.

"I've heard all the rumors," said Melissa. She made a face. "She'll do anything for an interview, and anything for a story. She's ruthless, and she'll stab you in the back before you can blink if it suits her."

Harleen set down her wrap, eyeing her friend. It wasn't common for Melissa to get so spun up about someone and sure she had her quirks, but Melissa was usually pretty open-minded and welcoming. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"No, she deserves every bit of it. You need to stay away from her, Harleen."

"Melissa…" Harleen sighed, having a feeling she'd be dealing with a major headache later. "Rumors are rumors. I'm not going to judge someone until I know the facts. Sure, she talks a lot, and some of the things she talks about are disturbing, but she hasn't done anything to me."

"Yet."

"_Anyways_," Harleen continued, ignoring Melissa's jibe. " I'm not going to not talk to her just because of some stupid rumors. God knows there's enough of those running around here about me and my success in gymnastics. But you're still my friend, and you know that I've done nothing wrong, so you just might be wrong about Summer, you never know."

Melissa sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to get anywhere with Harleen once she set her mind to something. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when something happens. I'll just say 'I told you so'."

"Fair enough. Now, how's Chem going for you?" It was a subject Harleen loved to tease Melissa on, since there was a very good-looking boy in her class, who happened to sit just two rows in front of her. However, Melissa had yet to get the courage to go talk to him.

"Well, the view is nice," said Melissa, grinning. The uncomfortable feeling between the two friends had immediately dissipated upon the change of subject.

"Oh _really,_" said Harleen, grinning. She took another bite of her wrap. "Have you talked to him yet?"

At this, Melissa turned red. "No! I mean well…he's probably taken."

"Melissa! You're twenty-three years old, and you don't have the guts to go talk to a guy? Oh come on," teased Harleen.

"Just because you could waltz right up to him and get him to immediately go on a date with you, doesn't mean we all have the same charm," retorted Melissa with a smirk.

"It's not like that!" protested Harleen.

"Oh yes it is," said Melissa, jabbing a finger at her. "You could get any guy on this campus, yet you're still without a boyfriend. What gives?"

"I don't know," said Harleen honestly. "I guess…I've tried to date guys, you know I have, and I've had enough boyfriends to fill up twenty lifetimes, but I still haven't found the_ one_, you know what I mean? It just hasn't clicked yet. They've all been super sweet, and caring, and great people, but it's like…part of me wants someone more adventurous, someone who lives on the edge."

"Lives life like it's their last day every day," said Melissa with a nod. "Someone who isn't afraid to risk everything. Someone who sees the world as their playground, to do with as they wish, and to have fun while doing it. Someone who you never can figure out what they'll do next, because it'll always be something unexpected."

"That about sums it up."

"Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who exists that's like that," chuckled Melissa. "Unless you want some psychopathic killer," she added teasingly.

Harleen stared at her, horrified. "Melissa! That's not funny."

"What?" Melissa just laughed. "I was just kidding."

"I know, but come on…a psychopath? That sounds like something out of a bad horror story."

"What about psychopaths?" interjected another voice and both girls looked to see Summer standing by the table. She sat down and pulled out her hamburger, beginning to unwrap it.

Melissa immediately quieted and took a sip from her drink, pretending to be very interested in her wrap. Harleen sighed and then looked over at Summer. "Melissa was just teasing me about the fact that I haven't been able to stick with a boyfriend. She seems to think psychopaths are more my style."

Summer arched an eyebrow and then laughed. "Psychopaths, huh? Nah, can't see it. You one to walk on the dangerous side of life, Harleen?"

"No, most definitely not," said Harleen, holding up a hand. "Ambitious yes, but I'm not going to get myself killed. I'm sure there is a perfectly nice, _normal_ guy out there for me. I just haven't found him yet." She would never admit to either of them that the thought of a little danger in a relationship thrilled her, and that the main reason she couldn't keep a boyfriend was that she was so bored with them. Sure they were sweet, but there wasn't any _life_ to the relationship. If her friends knew this, they would have locked her up quicker than she could blink.

Harleen finished her wrap and stood. "Any garbage?"

"Thanks," said Melissa with a smile.

"I'm good," said Summer, holding up a hand as she took another bite of her burger. Harleen took the garbage and walked over to the trash can, tossing it inside. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and Harleen looked around, swallowing. Someone was watching her, she could feel it, and it made her skin crawl. Not seeing anything out of place, Harleen shook it off and walked back over to Melissa and Summer.

"Did you _see_ him?" snickered Summer, and Harleen had a feeling she had missed something in the past few minutes.

"He was definitely staring," Melissa agreed, giving Harleen a sly smile.

"What?" asked Harleen, confused.

"Dr. Kesselman," said Summer with a grin.

"The DH?" asked Harleen, arching her eyebrows.

"The one and only," said Summer, still grinning. "He was totally checking you out when you threw away that trash. I think his eyes would fall out of their sockets if you hiked that skirt of yours any higher." Summer snickered.

Harleen felt her cheeks flush as she grabbed her messenger bag. "He was not." Though she couldn't help but let her eyes flicker to either side, allowing them to pause briefly on Dr. Kesselman, who stood speaking with another professor near the entrance to the food court. Dr. Kesselman was the Head of the Psychology Department, and young for his position. Harleen didn't know exactly how old he was, but his features were younger, and he wasn't bad-looking, but he was the DH for godsakes! So she liked to show off her body – she had worked extremely hard to stay fit as a fiddle, so why not show it to the world? _He was not staring, that would have been inappropriate_, she thought to herself.

But another voice inside her head thought otherwise. _You know it's happened at other universities, and even happened here. What makes you so special?_

_But it's WRONG._

_So? Has that stopped you before?_

That silenced Harleen. She stood there for a few minutes and then mumbled something about needing to get to class. She hurried away, not looking at either Melissa or Summer, thoughts swirling through her head. _What is this, pick on Harleen day? Seriously. First Melissa won't leave me alone about the boyfriend thing, but I suppose I deserved that after teasing her. But come on, psychopaths? She's been drinking, she must have. That's insane and just plain creepy. I like my guys nice and normal thank you very much. And then this whole thing with Dr. Kesselman, please, that's just silly. For only knowing Summer a few hours, she really jerks my chain sometimes. _

Harleen paid no attention to her surroundings as she headed back to her dorm, just wanting to get back to her room as soon as possible. She had a huge test to study for the next day, and if she wanted to have a chance at that Arkham internship, she would need to get her grades up. The past few semesters had not been kind to her.

So caught up in her thoughts, she did not notice the shadow that lurked behind her, watching her every movement, and analyzing their next move.

--

**Any thoughts who the mystery person at the end is? XD**

**Just a quick note from me here at the end: I decided to delve even more into why Harleen was able to be twisted around to the Joker's side, and giving her a bit of an edge, plus someone who might push her in the right (or wrong) direction if you will, on top of there being something just a little "off" about our dear Harleen, gives it a more realistic take I think. No, she's not obsessed with psychopaths, and like any normal person, sure she's enticed by a little bit of danger, a little adventure, but she's not going to go find some killer to get her thrill. (not yet anyway XD)**

**This also introduces the Head of the Dept, whom we all know helps Harleen in achieving her goal to get into Arkham.**

**Summer will be very important down the road.**


	3. Killer Instincts

**Disclaimer: Nothing owned by me except for a few strange plotlines floating around in my head :) All characters/settings etc owned by DC Comics**

**Author Notes: Thanks for the support everyone! This is going over better than I expected, especially since it's not your run-of-the-mill Harley Quinn story. I have yet to see something like this done, and I'm really having fun with it!**

**This chapter is a bit longer than the others, but there's some serious foreshadowing, as well as the introduction of another person many of you die-hard fans will know ;)**

**ps - next chapter - debut of the Joker!**

**As always, your reviews, comments, suggestions, etc are more than welcomed and very much appreciated!**

**Enjoy!**

**--**

**Chapter Three – Killer Instincts**

Gotham University was finally peaceful. As the leaves turned brilliant shades of color, and then gradually fell to the ground, allowing snowdrifts to take their place, a sense of tranquility blanketed the university campus. Finals were not for another two weeks, so no one was stressing yet. The only people one could find in the library were the die-hard studiers, the ones who really didn't have much of a life, and had no social networks to speak of.

Parties continued, unhindered by the events occurring around Gotham. The Joker had slipped off the radar, which made the police force nervous, but after a few months of inactivity, they also settled down. The Scarecrow had yet to appear again, and it had some people wondering if he wasn't planning another big event. However, the only crime was from smaller criminals, minor psychopaths, murderers, mobsters, the usual, and Gotham continued to move forward, with Batman at the head, keeping crime down to a minimum.

It was a particularly cold day when Harleen first met him. She was standing at Starbucks, waiting for her mocha latte when he appeared. He had been in line behind her, and now stood next to her as he waited for whatever he had purchased. He was tall, well-built but not overly so, with striking blonde hair, wearing a black suit. She noticed an International Business book sticking out from beneath the flap of his messenger bag, and his formal attire made sense.

She fiddled with a strand of her hair, focusing her gaze on the menu along the back wall of Starbucks, in an attempt not to stare at him.

"You would think they would be quick at this, wouldn't you?" came a deep voice from beside her and Harleen looked over at the black-suited man in surprise.

"What? Oh! Yeah, I guess so." Harleen laughed to help hide her nervousness, smiling her winning smile. _Why am I nervous? I'm never nervous around guys. They're usually the ones squirming around me._

The man smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Matt Hagen. Co-stander in line, it seems," he said, chuckling.

Harleen laughed and shook his hand. "Harleen Quinzel, stander-in-line-at-Starbucks extraordinaire."

"Nice to meet you Harleen."

"Call me Harley, everybody does," she responded with her traditional phrase.

"Well then, Harley, it looks like you've finally got your order," Matt nodded toward the cashier, who was holding out her mocha latte.

"Thanks." Harleen grinned, feeling her confidence return as she took her latte. _Just the initial conversation was a little rocky, but it looks like I'm back in the groove._

The cashier handed Matt his drink, and after thanking her, he walked with Harleen over to the small counter where they could get napkins, straws, sugar, or anything else they might need depending on their beverage of choice. "Well," said Matt as he stirred sugar into his coffee. "It was great meeting you, Harley. Hopefully we'll run into each other again." He smiled and took a sip of his coffee. "Mm, now _that's_ good coffee."

They both laughed and then Harleen smiled. "Nice to meet you too, Matt."

"See you around," said Matt with a small wave and he headed towards the exit of the food court.

_Well, that was interesting,_ she thought, taking a sip of her latte. She turned and nearly ran into Summer, who had been walking the other direction. "Hey Summer," said Harleen, smiling.

"Hey Harley. So, who was that?" she asked, a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous grin on her face.

"Who?"

"Oh don't act so innocent. I saw the way he was looking at you." Summer nudged Harleen. "Why don't you – "

"Hey, Harley," said a voice and Harleen turned to see Melissa walking over. "Want to head to – " She stopped when she saw Summer standing next to Harleen and immediately her features frosted over. "I see you're busy. I'll see you in Spanish."

Melissa turned and started walking away. Harleen sighed, giving Summer an apologetic look, and then ran after Melissa. "Melissa, hey, stop."

Melissa finally stopped, looking at Harleen. "Yes?"

"You've really got to cut this out, seriously. It's been _months_ and you still treat Summer like she's got a disease or something."

"She hasn't done anything in the past few months that's warranted me treating her any differently. She's twisting your mind so that you see things her way, and I don't like it," said Melissa, motioning fervently. Some people sitting nearby glanced at them but then went back to their own conversation. Melissa lowered her voice. "Harley, please."

Harleen ran a hand through her hair, trying not to roll her eyes. This was getting old very quickly. "Mel, I'm sorry we haven't been hanging out as much lately, but all you ever do is complain about Summer, and it's really getting old."

"Did you see what she wrote on the gymnastics team?"

"What, about Rebecca and Shane? She was right! They deserved to be outed. What they were doing was wrong."

Melissa stared at Harleen as if she were looking at a completely different person. "Harleen…how can you say that? They were your _friends_."

"Were, Melissa. Were," said Harleen, stressing those notes. _No one tries to top me. No one._ "Maybe you should think twice before you start siding with the wrong people. And if you keep treating Summer like dirt, then I think we need to stop being friends. Grow up before you talk to me again."

Melissa was at a loss for words, and she could only shake her head and walk away, sadness etched in her features. Harleen's cool exterior held for a moment before it dissolved, guilt apparent on her face. She hadn't meant to snap at Melissa like that, or let those cruel words escape her lips, but they had, and Harleen couldn't take them back. But did she want to? That scared her more than anything. Was she really changing? Was Melissa right? Harleen wanted to go after Melissa, to apologize, but something kept her feet rooted to the spot. Perhaps it was pride, or something else, but either way, Harleen didn't move.

It was several moments before Harleen finally was able to move again, and she swallowed, still looking at the door where Melissa had exited. Then she started walking, heading to no particular location. She just needed to get away.

--

Harleen skipped Spanish that day. And the following Thursday as well. She knew she was being childish, avoiding Melissa, and avoiding confrontation, but Harleen had never been someone who was openly confrontational. She was more along the lines of sly and clever. When she was in high school, her freshman year, there had been two senior girls who had constantly harassed her because she was better than them, and they knew it, and the only way they could feel empowered was to try and spread rumors about her, and make her feel unworthy. Cheerleading, such an entertaining sport, but the politics behind it all made it difficult to keep one's head above the water. Gymnastics had been similar, but by her freshman year, Harleen had given up her dream of the Olympics, and instead had concentrated on winning national championships and the like, to aid her in achieving her gymnastics scholarship for college.

Three months passed before Harleen had started to grow tired of the girls' games, but rather than confront them, Harleen started to scheme. She planted little tidbits here and there, very subtly, so that nothing could be traced back to her. Then it came time for their practice run prior to the state cheerleading championships, and it just so happened that both girls managed to get hurt. One was dropped when she was thrown into the air for a routine, and the four guys who were supposed to catch her didn't do it very cleanly, causing her to hit the floor. Then the other girl had been climbing onto another two girls for a pyramid, and her foot had slipped, causing her to crash to the ground, snapping her ankle.

Harleen had watched from the sidelines, since she was not part of the varsity team, but she was required to help out during some of the rehearsals and attend the games. Watch and learn, her JV coach had told her, and she didn't mind. So, in the actual confrontational part of the entire episode, Harleen didn't even need to lift a finger, but she had planned and she had schemed, and here was the frutation of her hard work. Both girls were out for the rest of the season, one most likely out for the rest of her life – she had landed on her back pretty hard – and it just so happened that they needed someone small and petite to complete that oh-so-difficult leap into the air, and Coach Brown loved her dearly, she had made sure of that, and so he had no problem with letting Harleen do the leap, and be the star. And so she had moved from the underling to the top, all because of the accidents that had befallen the two top cheerleaders. It was no surprise when Harleen quickly moved to the top, gaining glares from the more senior cheerleaders, but she proved herself to be the best, and so they bore with it. Though anyone who was anyone could tell that she was Coach Brown's favourite, and rumors began to fly, and soon Coach Brown had to take a leave of absence. But the next coach, Coach Williams, had been a tough one to crack, though Harleen had succeeded in the end. She always did.

Now, however, Harleen was torn between not wanting to lose Melissa as a friend, but also not wanting to get into the fight she knew could brew from this. Harleen's grades were already dropping due to her continued absences, and if she was going to graduate on time, and on top, which was the only way to secure that Arkham Internship, then she needed to go to class.

The following Tuesday, Harleen was back in Spanish. Since it was a more advanced Spanish class, they all sat around a center table, rather than individual desks. There was still fifteen minutes to go until the start of class, and when Harleen entered, she found that the conversation was electrified. Recent events in Gotham, it seemed, were the hot topic.

" – and did you see the pictures of the guy? Dude, the video footage was unreal!" exclaimed one of the guys, Rob Winters, a Phi Delt whom Harleen had dated for awhile her freshman year. His short, spiky black hair had been streaked with blonde highlights, and his T-shirt displayed one of Metallica's front covers.

"Yes!" exclaimed Robin Daweson, a shorter, peppy girl who tried too hard with her curly blonde hair and tight-fitting clothes. "He was huge!" She threw her hands up to add to her description. "He could probably snap the Scarecrow in half, easy!"

"Probably Batman too," snickered a boy with far too many piercings, wearing far too much black. Harleen forgot his name, Ricky maybe?

"Stop being so negative, Rich," retorted Arlene, a black-haired Goth who was probably the most down-to-earth person Harleen knew, and extremely intelligent too. Too bad all everyone ever saw was her black nails, black clothes, and makeup. "He won't last against Batman, they never do."

"The Joker still has the upperhand," pointed out Rob.

"Last I heard he was thrown back into Arkham," said a new voice, and the last person in their class – Melissa. Harleen turned from where she had been standing to see Melissa walk into the classroom and drop her bag on the table next to Rob. She sat down and pulled out her notebook. "So Batman won that one too."

"You really think Arkham can hold him?" asked Arlene, arching an eyebrow. "How many times has he escaped now? More than I can count."

"The losers always get what's coming to them," said Rich, smirking. "They're all psychopaths, all crazy, and they'll always be on the losing end of the stick." Arlene elbowed him and he glared at her, but shut his mouth.

"Yo, Harley, you've been pretty quiet, what do you think about this?" asked Rob, looking over at her. Suddenly all eyes were on Harleen, who had made her way silently to her seat between Arlene and Robin, sliding her bag beneath her chair.

She looked up as she removed a pen and her workbook from her bag, setting them on the table in front of her. It took her a moment, but then she said, looking pointedly at Rich, "Maybe they're not crazy, maybe they know exactly what they're doing, and why, and maybe it's just because you're too dense that you can't understand them, so you call them crazy and losers. But there'll come the time when you'll be face to face with one of them, and then you'll see that perhaps they're not stupid, or crazy, but actually extremely smart and devious and cunning, and it just took you until your final moment before they kill you to understand that."

The room was silent.

Everyone stared at her, some with opened mouths, some just with wide eyes.

Harleen opened her workbook and began to read over that day's vocabulary. They were supposed to have a quiz at the beginning of class and she still hadn't had a chance to look over them. It wasn't her fault that a bunch of her friends had decided to go out last night, and who was she to refuse them? She couldn't very well appear unsociable, and besides, the dinner and bar-hopping had been far more fun than studying for some boring quiz. It wasn't even a major test.

"Harleen, that was morbid," said Arlene, finally.

Harleen looked up, realizing everyone was still staring at her, and Rich's face had turned white, the color drained completely. Even she didn't really understand what had come over her, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense to her, and that disturbed her.

"You psychologists and your theories," joked Rob, shaking his head. "Almost as loony as your patients!" He grinned, trying to lighten the mood, but it was falling on deaf ears.

"Do you really think any of us would ever actually run into one of those creeps though?" asked Robin, her eyes wide.

"We did," said Melissa quietly, and all eyes turned to her.

"Really?!" asked Robin, far too chipper for her own good, and staring at Melissa like she was her idol. "Who did you run into? Scarecrow? Batman? The Joker? Clayface?" Rob snickered and Robin looked at him. "What?"

"It was the Scarecrow," said Melissa, her voice still quiet, and her eyes on her notebook. "When the university was torched at the beginning of the semester, Harleen and I were at a SigNu party, and he came there."

"What was he like? Was he cool?" asked Robin excitedly.

"Only you would find a run-in with a psychopath cool, Robin," said Arlene, shaking her head. "You're far too fascinated with these guys, bad for your health you know, being so obsessive."

"I can't help that they're interesting!" responded Robin.

"You ran into the Scarecrow, Harley?" asked Rob, looking at Harleen in surprise. "And you survived?"

"You don't know anything Robin, just shut up before you say something you'll regret," said Rich, finally speaking. He didn't meet anyone's gaze and began doodling in his notebook.

Robin looked hurt and sat back in her chair, looking very much like a child at that moment that had been told they couldn't have any desert.

"We did, but we escaped," said Harleen, and all eyes moved to her. "It's not something I really want to remember or experience again. And Arlene is right, Robin. These people kill without thought, they do what they want, when they want, and there's nothing 'cool' about it. I don't think – " Harleen was cut off as their professor, Señora LaMone, walked in at that moment.

"Hola, clase!" she said brightly and they responded in turn, effectively ending their prior conversation.

--

After class, Harleen left the room quickly in order to catch Melissa before her next class. She saw her friend only a few feet in front of her and quickly closed the distance, touching her arm. "Mel - " she began and Melissa pulled away from her touch. Harleen stopped, watching as her friend walked away. Then Melissa stopped, and turned, looking at Harleen.

"You really hurt me, Harleen, and after what you said in that room," said Melissa, pointing to the Spanish classroom, "I don't even know you anymore."

Harleen bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Mel, I really am. I just got…agitated in the food court, a lot of stuff happened that day, and I was just stressed out, and you were the first person that I blew up on and I know it's a really stupid excuse and I'm an idiot, I know, and I shouldn't have blown up on you, but I'm sorry, Melissa, I am, and I don't want to lose you as a friend," said Harleen quickly all in a rush, immediately feeling better once she had said it.

Melissa was quiet the entire time Harleen spoke, and it took a few minutes before she finally spoke. "I don't want to lose you as a friend either, Harley," said Melissa, using Harleen's nickname, and once Melissa had said those words, Harleen knew she had broken through.

Harleen's face immediately brightened as she let out a happy cry and a grin split her face. It was almost as if Harleen had lost ten years and was suddenly a child again as she bounded towards Melissa, enveloping her in a hug, ignoring the people nearby who were staring. "Yay, Mel! I'm so glad!"

Melissa couldn't help but laugh a little as she tried to pry Harleen's arms off of her, a small smile on her lips. "Gerroff Harleen, I can't breathe."

"Sorry!" Harleen let go of her friend, still beaming. Then she hooked her arm around Melissa's and pulled her down the hall. "I'm so glad Melissa, it was so weird not being able to talk to you! I thought I would go insane, really!" she said as they walked, her free hand moving around animatedly. "I really missed you."

"It's hard to stay mad at you, Harleen," said Melissa, unable to help but smile a little more.

"Oh you know you'd go insane without me." Harleen grinned and bumped her hip against her best friend's as they walked. "So, any new developments with the chem guy?"

"With Matt? No…not really, but we have a lab coming up and I was paired with him." Melissa blushed beet red at this prospect and Harley giggled.

"Aw, Mel, you can do it! I have faith in you." Harleen laid her head on Melissa's shoulder, smiling up at her, and then let go of her friend's arm, content to walk beside her. "Do you have any other classes with him?"

"Yeah, but they're the big lecture classes. Though he's been absent a lot lately."

They reached the exit of the building and began walking towards the Student Center, the shortest route to the bus stop. As they stood there, waiting for the bus, Harleen shifted the strap of her messenger bag, looking over at Melissa. "What are you up to tonight?"

"I was just going to chill, finally, maybe eat some really bad food, you know, the kind that is good for the soul, bad for the body," said Melissa with a grin. "Watch some Law and Order. You?"

Harleen made a face. "I have to study for my Cognitive Psychology mid-term."

"Aw, that's too bad! You know you want to veg out," said Melissa, nudging Harleen, winking at her.

Harleen sighed. "I really want to, but if I don't start doing better in that class, I'm going to fail, and I only have one semester left if everything goes right. You remember that internship I had mentioned, at Arkham?" Melissa nodded. "Well I looked into it more, and it's extremely competitive, like I thought, but you have to be in the top 10 of your class, high GPA all that…and it's not looking very good right now." Harleen ran a hand through her hair, checking to see if the bus was coming, and then looked back at Melissa.

"Well I think you can do it, Harley," said Melissa, smiling encouragingly. "You've always been the ambitious one, ever since we were younger, and I think if you set your mind to it, you'll beat out the lot of them and get that internship."

"Aww, thanks Mel!" said Harleen, throwing her arms around her friend happily. "You're the best! I don't know what I'd do without you."

Melissa laughed as Harleen dropped her arms, stepping back. "That's what friends are for." Then her face went white and Harleen's eyes widened.

"Mel? What is it?"

As Melissa's face began to tinge red, Harleen turned and saw the guy from the food court. What was his name? Matt Hagen, right? He was walking towards the bus stop. "That's him," Melissa whispered, her eyes never leaving Matt.

"Wait … what? That's the guy in your chem class?" asked Harleen in shock. Melissa nodded, not speaking. She slid discreetly behind Harleen.

Then, of all the things that Melissa could not want at that moment, Matt spotted Harleen and waved, smiling. "Hey there! Harley, right?" said Matt as he walked over.

"Right!" said Harleen, trying to hold her smile as Melissa began tugging at the back of her shirt.

"Harley, let's go," hissed Melissa, her blush deepening.

"Good to see you again. How have you been?" asked Matt, shouldering his bag.

"Good, good, evil psychology test to study for, the usual," said Harleen, laughing. The tugging grew more insistent.

"I understand. I plan on being in the library most of the night studying myself."

Harleen nodded. "Good luck! Well, I better get going, here comes our bus." She smiled and then began inching her way towards the bus that had just pulled up to the stop.

"Alright, well, I'll see you around!" Matt gave her a wave and then walked away. Harleen and Melissa bolted for the bus, running onto it and falling into the seats.

"You going to be alright?" asked Harleen, looking over at Melissa who seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating.

"F-fine," said Melissa, taking a deep breath. Then she just shook her head. "Seriously, Harley, why is it that you seem to know _every_ stinkin' guy on this campus!"

Harleen laughed. "Mel, I don't know that many."

"But you know _him!_" said Melissa, motioning emphatically as the bus pulled away. She sighed. "He's never going to even give me a second glance now."

"What do you mean?"

Melissa gave her one of the 'are you kidding' looks. "You have more sway over guys than you think."

_That I do,_ thought Harleen with an inward grin. She always seemed to get her way, even when she had been in high school. Men's minds were so easy to twist to her bidding, and she had never really thought about it twice. "He might like you, you never know! And you won't know until you try."

"Harley, be serious."

"I'm never serious," said Harleen with a laugh.

"Still." Melissa looked out the window glumly.

"Oh cheer up Mels," teased Harleen, nudging her friend. "Look, what about this? Since I'll probably run into him again at some point, how about if I start sliding your name into the conversations, work it up a little, and before you know it, _he'll_ be the one asking _you_ out." Harleen grinned. "Guaranteed!"

Melissa arched an eyebrow as she looked back at Harleen. "You think so?"

"Have I ever been wrong before?"

"No but – "

"Then it's settled!" Harleen leaned back in the seat, smirking. "Now, to plan."

--

That night, Harleen sat next to Melissa on the couch in her dorm room as they watched an episode of Law and Order. It had been on for the past few hours, but it was a show that neither of them ever got sick of. They had fun trying to figure out who the killer or the guilty party was, and most of the time they guessed correctly, but the goal was to figure it out before the other person.

" – and the way he acted when he was interviewed," Harleen was saying. "It's obvious it's him!"

"Are you sure? What about that other guy?" asked Melissa as they watched the episode. "He was acting pretty suspicious."

"It's always the person who is not the most obvious."

"Sometimes."

"Always."

"Maybe."

"Just admit I'm right."

"No you're not!" The next thing Harleen knew she had been wacked with a pillow.

"Hey!" she protested, laughing.

"What?" said Melissa, trying to appear innocent.

"Oh don't you try that innocent act on me missy," laughed Harleen and she hit Melissa with the pillow. Within minutes they had started a pretty epic pillow fight, ending with both of them lying on the floor, laughing.

" – and breaking news from Gotham City News," an urgent voice broke into their laughter. Both girls rolled onto their stomachs to look at the television, where Matt Engle stood in front of a brick building. "A young girl was kidnapped from Gotham University earlier this evening by none other than the villain Clayface. It looks like he may have had aid from the Scarecrow but reports are still flooding in. If you see this girl, immediately call the police. Stay inside and do not leave your homes." A photo flashed up on the screen and both girls gasped in horror.

"Summer!"

* * *

**I really love my cliffies XD**

**Also, I wanted to show more of Harleen's "Harley" side if you will. Some of her quirks that are starting to show through, and how she's not exactly a cookie-cutter preppy girl, or anything of that sort. **

**The plot thickens!**

**Next chapter - Villians, villians and more villians! Oh and did I mention the Joker? XD**


	4. Darkness Falls

**Disclaimer: Nothing of mine, all of DC : - )**

**Author Notes: A rather quick update this time, but again, to help further the plot and keep things moving, we have ourselves a mini-action chapter : - ) Have to keep things interesting!**

**So, therefore, I will give you all an idea what to expect. Expect the Scarecrow at some point, Clayface, and yes, the debut of the Joker XD **

**Enjoy!**

**As always your reviews, comments, suggestions etc are very welcomed and greatly appreciated!**

**---**

**Chapter Four: Darkness Falls**

Both Harleen and Melissa stared at the television in disbelief. Of all the people who could have been kidnapped, for it to have been Harleen's friend was uncanny. _How did that happen? Why Summer? That doesn't make sense! Just a random attack or was it planned?_ Thoughts swirled through Harleen's mind as she tried to figure out some logic to why Clayface would have kidnapped Summer. In the end, all she ended up with was that it had to have been random - it just didn't make sense otherwise.

"We've got to do something," said Harleen determinedly.

Melissa stared at Harleen as if she had grown a second head. "What?" she asked, her eyebrows arched. "Do something? Harley, are you insane?"

"Maybe." Harleen's eyes were still focused on the television, where Mike was giving the latest update on the kidnapping. "Maybe not. I can't just sit here, Melissa." Harleen finally looked at her friend, her gaze worried but determined. "Who knows what he could do to her?"

Melissa still stared at Harleen. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you've joined up with Batman and are out rescuing damsels in distress on the streets of Gotham."

"_That's_ never going to happen," said Harleen, her gaze shifting back to the television. "When I go out on the streets as a masked vigilante, then we'll know the world has ended. That's not for normal people like us."

"But going after some psychopathic clay monster is?" asked Melissa incredulously.

Harleen ignored the question, trying to take in everything Mike was saying and the background, so that she could formulate some sort of plan. The truth was, Melissa was right, but once Harleen was obsessed, or focused as she called it, on something, there was no swaying her.

"This sort of hero stuff is for people like Batman. It's what they _do_," continued Melissa in an effort to dissuade her friend from going after the psychopath. "The police, all of them. If we go wherever it is they are, we're only asking for trouble!"

"Fine," said Harleen after awhile, standing. "I'll go by myself then." Harleen walked towards the door, slowly, biding her time. She counted silently in her head. _One…two…three – _

"Sheesh Harley, don't do that!" said Melissa, standing. Harleen grinned. Melissa was so predictable. "I'll go, if only to keep _you_ out of trouble."

"Yay! Mel!" Harleen threw her arms around her friend, hugging her. "Now that's the spirit!"

Melissa just shook her head. "Seriously, Harley, sometimes I think you're as loony as the rest of them."

"Nah, just stubborn, determined, and adventurous," said Harleen, still grinning. Her mood had changed drastically, but that was the way Harleen was. If she got her way, everything always looked bright. Though in this particular situation, what they were about to do, wasn't exactly smart.

"That's what you said," smirked Melissa.

Harleen laughed. "Come on, think of it this way. How often do two college students get to go out at night and rescue someone? We'll be famous! We'll be on the news – "

"As dead bodies," interjected Melissa.

"- and everyone will know us!" continued Harleen, pointedly ignoring Melissa's comment. "There might even be a reward! We'd be rich!" It was one of those moments where a cartoonist could have come in and drawn stars for Harleen's eyes as she daydreamed.

"Write a book on those psychopaths and get rich that way. You won't be dead."

"Oh stop being such a downer, Mel, seriously," said Harleen shaking her head. She winked, nudging her friend. "Book writing is for those who don't have a sense of adventure. Why sit in a dusty old room writing on paper when you can be out doing stuff?"

Melissa just shook her head, a small smile on her lips as she slipped on her shoes and bundled up. "Why do I let you talk me into these things?" she sighed.

"Because you're my best friend, that's why!"

Melissa zipped up her coat as Harleen put on her shoes and coat. "Let's go before I talk myself out of this."

Harleen grinned and grabbed Melissa's wrist. "This is much better than studying for some boring exam!" laughed Harleen as she tugged her friend out of the room.

---

The docks. A place where smart people didn't go at night. In Gotham, the criminals ruled the night, as well as most of Gotham. However, this was the place where Summer was supposedly held, last seen nearby this area, according to Mike Engle and Gotham News Channel 4. Therefore, this was where Harleen and Melissa headed to. They parked Melissa's car a little ways away, with Melissa praying that no one would steal it, and began walking through the dimly lit streets between the dark warehouses. The warehouses loomed up on either side of them and the moon shone down, illuminating the water in the distance. Something howled in the distance and a chilly breeze swept down the lane, stirring paper and other garbage along the ground. Harleen shivered and hugged her arms around herself, starting to think that maybe this hadn't been the best idea. Of course, she'd never admit it – she was far too stubborn for that.

They walked for a long while, Harleen and Melissa huddled against each other as they moved. The night sky was clear, and the air had a bite to it that forecasted snow. Other than the occasional howl or rustle of garbage along the lane, the night was silent, and that usually meant, at least in movies, that something bad was going to happen. Harleen really didn't want to stay to find out, and as they walked, she became more resolved to turn back.

"You sure she's here?" whispered Melissa, her breath coming out in a puff of air.

"It's what the report said," whispered Harleen in return.

Then sound of voices caused both girls to halt, their eyes widening slightly as they glanced at each other, and then to the warehouse in front of them. The door cracked open slightly, spilling out a thin beam of light onto the pavement. Harleen and Melissa looked around quickly and spotted a large stack of crates nearby. They dove behind them, peeking around the edges to see what was going on.

" – for a walk!" came the angered voice from the doorway. "Act a bit more professional, won't you? Honestly." The door opened wider and the Scarecrow stepped out. Harleen and Melissa both stifled gasps, staring in shock. That was not something they had expected. "Mud pie, that's all you are," muttered the Scarecrow as he stalked past Harleen and Melissa's hiding spot. "Don't take my advice, nooo, of course not! Who's the licensed psychiatrist, huh? Yes, me, quite right, and who knows fear better than me! Not you! Wasting the precious supplies." The Scarecrow muttered a few other things, some along the lines of, "Get your own guinea pig," and then he was gone, disappearing into the shadows.

Melissa and Harleen looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Now that was interesting," whispered Melissa.

"What's the Scarecrow doing here?"

"Don't know, don't care, don't want to find out," said Melissa. "We going to do this?"

Harleen really didn't want to anymore, especially now that the Scarecrow was involved. That meant that there was a chance that other criminals could be lurking around that area. Of course, she had known that before even suggesting that they go after Summer, but her stubbornness had clouded that judgment, therefore ending in them winding up in quite the predicament.

Harleen really didn't want to admit she was wrong. Therefore, she did the not so smart thing, and beckoned for Melissa to follow her. They crept towards the open door, peering around the edge into the warehouse. It was filled with huge, metal cylindrical canisters that rose almost all the way up to the ceiling, where lights hung from the beams. The floor was cement, and the light barely filtered down between the canisters, leaving just enough room for someone to pass through. However, as Harleen and Melissa slid inside, the warmth of the warehouse a relief from the outside air, they noticed that two of the canisters off to the right looked like a massive bulldozer had shoved through them. They were twisted and bent away, as if shoved aside to make way for something extremely large to pass through.

Harleen gulped, her heart rate increasing a little, but they had already come this far. She really wasn't cut out for this hero business. All she wanted was to graduate college, secure that internship, become rich and famous, and settle down with a family one day. Yet life seemed to love to throw her curveballs, and this one was a doozy.

"What do you think did that?" whispered Melissa, her eyes focused on the damaged canisters.

"Something big, that's for sure," whispered Harleen. They began moving forward, trying to stay hidden behind stacks of crates and the high walls of the canisters. They heard voices and moved towards the source, finally reaching an open area where a small group of thugs stood around, arguing with one another. Harleen and Melissa crouched down behind a stack of crates, peering just over the top in order to watch what was going on. Then they saw her. Summer. She was sitting only a few feet away, tied to a chair and gagged. Her head was dropped low over her chest, her blonde hair falling over her closed eyes, and Harleen sincerely hoped she was just unconscious, and not the other possibility. Beside Summer, there were several other individuals bound and gagged, some unconscious, and others still struggling to get free. _Scarecrow's test subjects?_ wondered Harleen.

Suddenly a shot went off, the sound echoing through the large warehouse, and both Harleen and Melissa jumped, falling backwards. Their hearts pounding, they stared at each other. "W- w- was that a _gun_ shot?" whispered Melissa, horrified.

"I – I don't know, I think so." Harleen swallowed, hard. Her hands were shaking as she took a deep breath and then crawled back to the crates. The crowd of thugs was moving, except for one man, who now lay on the ground in a pool of blood. Harleen choked back a gag, the sight of blood causing her stomach to turn. Beside her, Melissa had already emptied her dinner on the floor, and Harleen had to move away in order to not see it.

"Sorry," whispered Melissa as she moved to crouch next to Harleen again.

"It's okay," whispered Harleen, trying to find a clear shot to Summer. "We've got to get her untied, somehow, but – "

Suddenly the warehouse began to shake, almost as if it were an earthquake, and the canister behind Harleen and Melissa shook dangerously. In the next moment, several things happened. The canister was shoved away with a terrific force as Clayface barreled through into the open area, obviously enraged. He batted away thugs who dared stand in his way. Then the crates in front of Melissa and Harleen exploded, literally, in a shower of splintered wood. They screamed, unable to stop themselves, and covered their heads from the falling debris. Clayface turned and moved over to them, his toothy grin even more menacing in the dim light. "Come out to play?" he sneered, and reached for them just as an unearthly laugh filled the warehouse, chilling them straight to the bone. Clayface froze, and he scowled. "Joker," he spat.

_Joker!!_ Harleen's eyes went wide and both she and Melissa bore looks of pure horror. They had heard all the stories, seen all the video footage, and neither of them wanted to experience a run-in with the infamous criminal master-mind. Taking advantage of Clayface's distraction, both Melissa and Harleen scrambled to their feet and took off running. Something huge and black dropped in front of them and they screamed.

"You two shouldn't be here," the gruff voice of Batman managed to break through their screams. Harleen and Melissa stared at Batman, having only seen him on television and in the newspapers. He seemed far creepier in person, and they began backing away. Then Batman's attention was drawn to a point somewhere behind them. He glanced at the girls and said, "Get out of here, now!" As he took off towards whatever had caught his attention, Harleen and Melissa both took off running, not wanting to stick around for whatever would happen.

"Wait, Summer!" cried Harleen and turned to go back.

"Stop, Harley! Batman's here, he'll rescue her. We need to get outta here!" cried Melissa, tugging at her friend's arm. Melissa won the tugging battle, and Harleen starting running beside her again. They turned corner after corner, darting around the canisters and crates, trying to find their way out of the maze. They rounded a corner and next thing they knew, they were on the ground, having barreled right into someone.

Harleen gasped when she realized who it was. "Summer! Thank god!" Harleen threw her arms around her shaken friend, who looked like disgruntled.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," muttered Summer, rubbing her head. "That'll teach me to stick my nose where it doesn't belong." They helped each other climb to their feet.

"What happened?" asked Harleen, momentarily forgetting that they needed to keep moving.

"I was in the park, overheard some people talking, went to investigate, then I wind up here, all for the sake of a story," grumbled Summer, clearly not too pleased. "How about we get out of here, then we can catch up."

"I agree, let's go!" said Melissa. "Come on Harley." She pulled Harleen along and the three girls began running, though Summer was at a slightly slower pace, due to the period of unconsciousness she had experienced after being kidnapped.

Suddenly, a large stack of crates shook beside them and they began to fall towards the girls. The three girls dove out of the way, in separate directions, and Harleen found herself trapped between a pile of crates and a canister wall. "Melissa! Summer!" she yelled over the din. The sound of shooting echoed through the warehouse, along with that eerie laugh, and then yelling only added to the commotion. Harleen scrambled to her feet, coughing from the dust that had been thrown up when the crates had crashed. She began moving again, trying to find her friends, and backed up against a canister wall when Clayface barreled past. Harleen swallowed, her heart thundering in her chest.

She heard yelling voices coming closer, and then there was an explosion of some sort. Insane laughter filled the air close by, and Harleen had a sinking feeling that wasn't the good kind of laughter, but rather the dying kind, the kind that the Joker was infamous for inducing prior to a grisly death. Harleen hid behind a large wooden crate. _Where did Melissa go? Where's Summer? I've got to find them! This can't be happening!_ Harleen rarely had a major panic attack but it felt like one right now as she frantically searched the warehouse for her friends. _Why oh why did I ever think it was a smart idea to try and rescue Summer? That's for the Batman to do! Not normal people like us. Melissa was right, this is crazy!_

Haze filled the room, making it darker than it should have been, and Harleen could barely make out anything past the canister behind which she hid. Sounds of fighting filled the air farther out in the warehouse, where Harleen assumed Batman was fighting one of the villains.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" cackled a voice behind Harleen and she froze, her eyes widening. Her breath caught in her throat as she turned around slowly, staring up in shock at a figure whose face she had only seen on television stood before her. In the eerie lighting of the warehouse, the Joker's pure white skin seemed to glow with an inner light, his ruby red lips glistening around a wide grin, and his dark green hair even more vivid than she recalled from seeing it on the television. He carried an air of magnetism around him, seemingly drawing in everything around him, just by his mere presence, including Harleen. He wasn't a large man by any means. Instead, he was lean and wiry, the complete opposite of what Harleen would have expected, with a reputation such as his. He struck fear into the hearts of even the most dangerous of criminals, and Harleen knew that this man who stood before her, his violet eyes piercing through her as if he could see straight to her soul, was most likely the most dangerous criminal psychopath the world had ever seen.

"Cat caught the mouse, seems to me!" laughed the Joker, his grin widening if that was possible. Harleen had no idea why she was not running or screaming, or doing something that would make sense. She could only stare up at him in fascination, her heart beating rapidly, but this time, not out of fear. She could not understand it, but the Joker seemed to draw her to him, and she was helpless to follow. "So serious! Laugh a little!" The Joker lifted a purple-gloved hand to the orange flower on his lapel, but before anything happened, a large shadowy figure – Batman - knocked the Joker away.

The Joker's laugh echoed throughout the facility, but rather chilling Harleen to the bone, she felt something else run through her. The closest thing she could compare it to was the rush she felt after coming off a major rollercoaster. Was she…thrilled? That, in itself, scared her, and she didn't know what to do.

In the end, it was Summer suddenly appearing in front of her, shaking her shoulders, and saying something that Harleen didn't quite understand that snapped her out of it. "Harley! Harley, come on, we've got to move!" Harleen didn't speak as Summer yanked at her arms, pulling her to her feet. It was as if she were in a dream, moving without thinking, as Summer pulled her towards what must have been the exit. Even as they passed through the hole in the warehouse wall where the earlier explosion had taken place, Harleen's eyes were fixated on the shadows where the Joker had disappeared.

---

**Dun dun dun…. *insert suspenseful music here* and our dear Harley gets her first glimpse at her future**

**Sorry about the shortest of the chapter, but you had lots of action! XD **

**Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading :- )**


End file.
